Associate vehicle ownership and care

Should we require our associate veterinarians to own their own vehicles? We're finding that they don't take care of the practice-owned trucks. What are the ramifications of making this change, and what are other practices doing?

"This is a frustrating problem for many practice owners because nothing instills a sense of responsibility like ownership," says Dr. Mark Baus, managing partner at Fairfield Equine Associates in Newtown, Conn. He estimates that the number of practices that own the vehicles is equivalent to the number that pay mileage on vehicles owned by the doctors. Dr. Baus' practice owns its vehicles and pays all vehicle expenses for ambulatory care. "We've considered asking our doctors to purchase vehicles, and then we'd compensate them at the IRS mileage rate—50.5 cents per mile," he says. "However, our accountants have advised us that at the yearly mileage our doctors travel, it wouldn't represent a savings to the practice or a benefit to the doctor."

Dr. Mark Baus

Dr. Baus says he also has some other concerns about turning over vehicle ownership to the doctors. One is that it's important that practice vehicles maintain a consistent, professional appearance to clients—something that's more easily achieved if the practice retains ownership. "It's also important that each vehicle be properly insured to minimize exposure to the practice in the event of an accident," he says. Plus, when the practice retains ownership, it can provide for prompt and routine maintenance, which helps ensure that each vehicle is available and on time for elective and after-hours stable calls. Achieving compliance on all of these issues would be more difficult if the vehicles were not owned by the practice, he says. Here are some tips for getting the doctors to take care of their vehicles:

• Set well-defined standards for the care of practice-owned vehicles.

• Determine a "fleet manager" within the practice to oversee maintenance and repair of practice vehicles.

• Conduct yearly performance reviews for each doctor that includes a review of vehicle maintenance.